Arizona Chickens

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: http://mysrf.org/pdf/pdf_poultry/p10.pdf

 

[mnabity]

Congrats on the new house, carnivore!

LKD, are you on the road yet or sidelined by car troubles?

I added alfalfa pellets to the chickens' FF, and I'm not sure they like it.  I'm trying to up their greens, without giving them ALL of the kale and chard in my garden! 

My parents are looking at house for me in Eagar.  I think it's too close to a road, but price and everything else looks great.  Oh, and the lacking jobs in Eagar part might be a tad problematic, lol.  Job first, then move. 

Let me know if you do decide to move here, we can get together and talk chicken and if there is anything I can help you with let me know.

 

[Syl in Tucson]

According to Wikipedia they are a type of canid so "related to domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and many other lesser known extant and extinct dog-like mammals." 

"The gray fox is mainly distinguished from most other canids by its grizzled upper parts, strong neck and black-tipped tail, while the skull can be easily distinguished from all other North American canids by its widely separated temporal ridges that form a U-shape. There is little sexual dimorphism, save for the females being slightly smaller than males. The gray fox ranges from 76 to 112.5 cm (29.9 to 44.3 in) in total length. The tail measures 27.5 to 44.3 cm (10.8 to 17.4 in) of that length and its hind feet measure 100 to 150 mm (3.9 to 5.9 in). The gray fox typically weighs 3.6 to 7 kg (7.9 to 15.4 lb), though exceptionally can weigh as much as 9 kg (20 lb).[SUP][12][/SUP][SUP][13][/SUP][SUP][14][/SUP] It is readily differentiated from the red fox by the lack of "black stockings" that stand out on the latter and the stripe of black hair that runs along the middle of the tail. In contrast to all Vulpes and related (Arctic and fennec) foxes, the gray fox has oval (instead of slit-like) pupils.[SUP][15][/SUP]
The gray fox's ability to climb trees is shared only with the Asian raccoon dog among canids. Its strong, hooked claws allow it to scramble up trees to escape many predators such as the domestic dog or the coyote,[SUP][16][/SUP] or to reach tree-bound or arboreal food sources. It can climb branchless, vertical trunks to heights of 18 meters and jump from branch to branch.[SUP][17][/SUP] It descends primarily by jumping from branch to branch, or by descending slowly backwards as a domestic cat would do. The gray fox is nocturnal or crepuscular and dens in hollow trees, stumps or appropriated burrows during the day. Such gray fox tree dens may be located 30 ft above the ground.[SUP][15][/SUP] Prior to European colonization of North America, the red fox was found primarily in boreal forest and the gray fox in deciduous forest, but now the red fox is dominant in most of the eastern United States since they are the more adaptable species to development and urbanization.[SUP][18][/SUP] In areas where both red and gray foxes exist, the gray fox is dominant.[SUP][19][/SUP]"
My son is a big fox fan, loves everything about them.  (Except I wonder how he would like it if one ate his favorite chicken? )  He was very happy they let the little fox go instead of killing it like one of the guys wanted to.

Oh great. My college educate down the toilet. What a waste. Lol

 

[City farm]

City Fam: I hope that I didn't give you a BR by accident, i tried to give you what I was pretty sure were SLWs and Australorps. I'm curious to find out what the brown mystery chick is, I hope you'll keep me posted.

Either way we are not keeping them.. I was thinking of only keeping a SLW, that is if she turns out to be a sweetie.. We have a family that wants to start a new flock, so depending on when they want chickens, these will go to them.. Their markings looked more like PBR.. Which are beautiful to look at any hoo.1 would be nice for them. You are better at guessing what breed than I. Just a newbie.
She took them under her wing and is a great mom..e
We are so very happy that you had chicks available.. Especially this time of year.. Speaking of chicks.. We might need fertile eggs.. I think we have ANOTHER BROODY.. I am going to work on
keeping her off the nest.. However it does seem to be very time consuming..
We will keep you posted on the mystery chick.. That one was very small compared to the others..

Anyone have FERTILE EGGS??

 

[Syl in Tucson]

little chiken, I'm going to throw some thoughts your way. These thoughts are not necessarily what is going on in your quest for show stock, but food for thought.

Most people who are serious about showing birds hatch out and raise a LOT of birds to pick a few to better their stock. This is a big commitment in time, energy, money, space. Some people do not want their birds going to an "unknown", someone who has not shown before. They have put their time and money into a breed and a newcomer may or may not do right by the birds they have spent so much time developing.

When you approach someone to ask about getting their stock: Do you...
Ask them if they have any "roos" or "girls" they are willing to part with? Serious breeders use the correct terminology.
Expect to get their best birds or offspring? Breeders are generally willing to part with "culls", which for them may still be plenty good birds to start out with. Don't expect to buy birds that will instantly win at a show.
Ask intelligent questions about that breeder's birds, indicating you have researched the breed and have a positive interest? I can't tell you how many times I get inquiries for a "Maran"---first clue that person hasn't researched and doesn't know the correct spelling of the breed. Ameraucana breeders are particularly sensitive about misspellings of their breed!

Have you joined the breed club of the breed you are interested in to learn more about the breed? Have you joined the APA? Bought the SOP so you can learn how to judge a good bird?

As far as using their stock for mixes or project birds, see the first thought above. If they have spent a lot of time and money developing a breed, they may only want their stock going to breeders dedicated to that breed, not to use for mixes. You can argue that shouldn't matter, I'm just saying maybe it DOES matter, to some breeders.
Yes, sharing genetics to move a breed forward is important. But there are a ton of "here today, gone tomorrow" so-called breeders. Many of those folks think they can make money raising chickens. Some of them want to make the newest and latest color, fad breeders, then once interest in that color dies, they move on to something else. Some are name droppers, yes just saying their birds are from so and so and expecting that means their birds are just like so and so's...however once YOU pick that pairing, those birds are yours. YOU made the decision which to keep, which to cull, not "so and so". Many new to the hobby just don't have what it takes to stick with a hobby that is inherently difficult or don't have the patience it takes to work year after year on one breed.

Well I got to go eat dinner. Hope this helps.

I had the same preoblem when breeding shepherds. I had several people that couldn't understand why I wouldn't sell them an intact dog or why I wouldn't want to breed my male to their husky mix. "I just want a litter of puppies. I can give them away." Ugh. Go away befor I shoot you in the face.

 

[desertmarcy]

OK, I guess I'll have to admit I never really looked closely at a crow's head. I guess they have a longer bill, other than that, how is their head differently shaped than a chicken's?

APA definition: "A narrow, shallow, head and beak, a serious defect".

 

[Macboat]

I think it was someplace in Russia over 25 or 30 years ago, that trying to make the fox easier to handle for the fur coat trade tried to tame them. It worked, to well. They are wonderful pets, half dog half cat, and very playful. Unfortunately, they are useless as fur coats. Now they have curled or straight tails, pointed or flop years, and a thick coat of many spots and colors. As of yet, to my last hearing about them, they are unable to get them as yet to breed true, but now the other part. They are a happy tail wagging people loving pet like animal.... Hard to look at as a fur product. All they wanted was a fox that would not take your and off when you feed them or took care of them, easier and safer to handle. Not getting your faced licked for joy when you handle them.

Who could make that into a fur coat.... And now, apparently, still hunters, but don't know what to once anything is caught. Play with it? Make it your friend?

That is too cute... do you have a link to some articles detailed this breed?

 

[carnivore]

APA definition: "A narrow, shallow, head and beak, a serious defect".

Yeah, I looked it up on the link that Sonoran Silkies posted. Looked at all my birds, and don't think I have any problems in that department. Is this a common defect?

 

[K9Dave]

I had the same preoblem when breeding shepherds. I had several people that couldn't understand why I wouldn't sell them an intact dog or why I wouldn't want to breed my male to their husky mix. "I just want a litter of puppies. I can give them away." Ugh. Go away befor I shoot you in the face.

I've heard a lot of those too. " we just want a litter of puppies before fido is too old". I always tell them that to breed a dog, you need 2 VERY GOOD dogs. Proven, healthy physically and healthy mentally along with a lot of other requirements. My buddy found a dog about 5 years ago on the street. Half chow/half lab and he talks about wishing he could breed him. I ask why he would want to breed a mutt he found on the street? I surly get the same answer when I ask that question. I want to keep his/her bloodline going because he's a great dog. Ugh

There are a million great dogs that you could have without putting it's 9 or so litter mates into the Animal Shelter because you "wanted it's bloodlines". I've raised many litters of pups and I can tell you , ITS NOT THAT MUCH FUN. I wish breeding could be supervised or something. Lol

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
I think LKD was referring to the Fox Farm experiments by the Russian geneticist Dmitry Belyaev, which started in 1959 and continue to today. Belyaev was interested in the domestication process of wolves to dogs and chose another canid, the fox, to recreate and study this process. They selected for tameness and have been wildly successful. They were not selecting for coat color or other physical characteristics, but rather they were interested in how the domestication process affected physical characteristics, such as coat color. Interestingly, selecting for tameness had similar consequences for particular physical characteristics across a diversity of animals. Here is a great and recent overview and update on the science going on at the fox farm.